BJ Services Wins Patent Lawsuit Against Halliburton

A Houston jury awarded

BJ Services

(BJS)

$98 million in a patent infringement lawsuit the company brought against

Halliburton

(HAL) - Get Report

.

Both companies provide various services to the petroleum industry. Halliburton said the jury found that one of its units infringed BJ's patent for the Vistar fracturing fluid. Halliburton said the damages awarded were less than one-quarter of the amount BJ claimed at the beginning of the trial.

The court will award prejudgment interest at a later date, and Halliburton said the jury found that there was no intentional infringement. The court plans to issue an injunction preventing Halliburton from continuing to use its Phoenix fracturing fluid, which was determined by the jury to infringe the BJ patent.

Halliburton plans to appeal the verdict. This isn't the first time in recent months that Halliburton shareholders have had to deal with litigation against the company. Halliburton, like many industrial companies, also has been named as a defendant in certain asbestos lawsuits, which now have found their way to a

wide variety of corporations.

Shares of Halliburton lost 89 cents, or 5.2%, to $16.38 in

New York Stock Exchange trading. BJ fell $1.10, or 3.3%, to $32.67.